In the Hearts
by Yin of Yang
Summary: Even though it is over, they all knew one thing...


**Disclaimer: No part of Super Smash Bros. belongs to me. At all.**

* * *

When every Smasher of the Super Smash Bros. Tournament received a letter to join the competition, it meant only one thing for them.

A truly worthy fight.

And why the fight was worthy wasn't only for the fact that the best of the best had been selected, but that the tournament allowed them to get away from their daily troubles. It allowed them to fight without hindrances, only for the thrill.

And so they joined. Upon their arrival, they first words given to them were from the manager of the event, Master Hand.

He told them, "Never forget that the true purpose of this competition is that it is only for raising money."

Yet as the tournaments passed and the more people entered, the more reason why that little statement was pushed farther and farther into the forgotten traces of their minds. The fights became more thrilling, unbreakable bonds were formed, and time wore the fact away. Even Master Hand himself forgot that he spoke that sentence.

Over the years, Super Smash Bros. became a name to remember throughout the gaming world.

It became a legend.

But as time goes by, other legends start. Because of those legends, the characters that became legendary through that game too joined the Super Smash Bros. "party."

More and more of those characters joined, and those that had been their since the near beginning as the competition that they had cherished so much, become something unrecognizable to them all.

Nobody had expected for it to be like this.

.-:_____:-.

It had started when a Newcomer joined the Super Smash Bros. competition one year. The Newcomer had been easy to distinguish the moment he walked in. A round face, giant green eyes, a short, yet relatively slim build, with a bubbly personality to match; he became a well known face around the manor from the moment he introduced himself to all of the Smashers.

But news such as Newcomers quickly became a thing of the past.

And so, they continued to fight. Yet, things never stayed too quiet in the competition.

The most surprising news of all arose in the mansion. They were making cuts.

The cuts made would be the first cuts made since the second Super Smash Bros. competition that took place years ago.

That news drove everyone into a frenzy. The rumours flew, the tensions skyrocketed, and all battles seemed fiercer than before. Who would be the one to leave the completion for good?

Before anybody realized it, the final cuts had been made.

Nobody would have been surprised by the slightest if their most recent Newcomer had been selected to leave the competition.

Everybody was surprised when Master Hand told all the Smashers that it was the Earthbound/Mother crew that had been cut.

Lucas hadn't been the reason for their surprise; the blond PK user had been a Newcomer quite recently. It was the fact that Ness, a true Veteran of the Super Smash Bros. Tournament, a contender that had been there from the very beginning, had to permanently withdraw from the competition.

So they decided to throw a farewell party on the day they had to leave.

The day of Lucas and Ness's departure hadn't been a too much of a saddening one. Every Smasher spent nearly all of that day laughing, sharing their most memorable moments with the PK fighters, and pushing aside their pride to act like a kid along with the now cut Smashers. Even Master Hand and his wild brother, Crazy Hand, participated in the childlike festivities.

But the party had to end. The bus from their universe had arrived.

All of Lucas and Ness's closest fellow Smashers followed them to the front door. Though it had only been their closest friends, every Smasher found his or her self a seat somewhere where they could watch them leave the manor.

Lucas stood before the bus first. He had simply stared at bus blankly, the news that he was the one to leave finally settling. He turned to his friends and smiled a watery smile as tears slid down his round cheeks. With a short wave, he entered the bus.

Ness slowly walked up to the bus after Lucas entered. He, too, stared at the bus blankly as he reminisced his final moments at the tournament and his first arrival. Slowly, he turned his head and faced his friends. Ness gave them the biggest grin that anyone had ever seen. His toothy smile stretched across his face, nearly splitting it in two. His grin grew so wide his black, beady eyes closed as a result. And on the corners of his closed eyes were tears. Those tears were the first tears that anyone had seen from the PK prodigy.

And with a cheery, yet stout, wave, he yelled out, "See ya!!" and entered the bus.

But the moment Ness got on the bus, every Smasher felt their heart tug. Simultaneously, they all put a hand to their heart and watched the bus drive away, farther and farther from the mansion. Looks of fear spread across their faces.

It was a premonition. With the departure of Ness, something was going to change. They all knew it wasn't for the good.

.-:_____:-.

They continued to fight.

The shock of losing a Veteran and the feeling of the premonition still lingered in their hearts, yet, to try and erase those feelings, they all fought.

And it as if seemed the more they battled, the more they received Newcomers.

The amount of Newcomers increased at an alarming rate. It was almost as if Newcomers came in every week.

And they didn't look normal at all. Granted, some of the Smashers did have an abnormal appearance, but most of the Newcomers looked just plain _odd_.

There were Newcomers with oddly colored hair, such as red and white hair mixed in with green. There were Newcomers with strangely colored skin; several had a sickly purple skin tone. Most of the Newcomers could be considered not even _human, _many had a robotic form, and even more seemed to have animal features mixed in with their human body, like a tail and/or cat ears.

Despite their looks, all had the same common goal; Fight.

And that was all that in took for the Smashers to accept one another.

But soon, the Newcomer amount had surpassed the number of Smashers that had been there since Brawl, the third Super Smash Bros. Tournament. And even quicker, the maximum amount of contenders had been exceeded. That meant only one thing…

It was time to make more cuts.

And strangely, the Veterans had been rather calm about it. While the Newcomer group had been driven into a panic, the others continued on with their usual routines as if it the news was nothing.

But it did surprise them when Master Hand announced that only one cut was to be made.

It was even more surprising when the large hand said that Sonic the Hedgehog was the cut Smasher.

Sonic the Hedgehog was the one of the last people that anyone one expected to be cut. Just a couple competitions ago, during Brawl, Sonic was easily considered the most anticipated character there. When the blue anthropomorphic hedgehog walked on the platform to introduce himself to the entire world that he was a Newcomer, the stadium had erupted in cheers and screams. He was a legend in video games in a legendary competition.

And now he had been cut.

So, just as they did for Ness and Lucas, everyone threw a going away party for him.

Sonic, just as he had been during Brawl, was the star. The Newcomers came and gave their goodbyes and laughed together with their past experiences with him. But the true bonds were witnessed whenever a Veteran Smasher came up.

To the Newcomers, what the Veterans had with Sonic was a greater bond than they could even hope to have with the blue hedgehog. They watched as Sonic would crack a joke, tease and get teased and even get ruffled up a bit. Sonic showed his true colors in front of the ones he had formed a life long friendship with.

But to the Veterans, this was like it was everyday. For the sake of their friend's, and perhaps their own happiness, they treated this day just like any other day with the speedy hedgehog. All their bonds with him surfaced even greater than before as they displayed just how much they would miss each other. Even Snake, the one Smasher who hated the hedgehog from the very beginning, showed his appreciation for Sonic's presence during the competition.

But they made a mistake. They made the mistake of choosing a Newcomer to give Sonic a farewell speech.

The Newcomer chosen had been the very first Newcomer to arrive since Brawl, the boy with the round face, giant green eyes, a short, yet relatively slim build, and a bubbly personality to match. He walked up to the podium set in the party room and gave his speech.

The speech in the beginning had been great, wonderful even. He spoke about Sonic's achievements as a Super Smash Bros. contender and as a video game star. He spoke about his own personal moments with the hedgehog, the ones that were sure to get a good laugh out of everyone.

It was the very last line of his speech that caused all the Veterans to slowly place a hand over their heart, just as they did when Ness disappeared from competition forever.

"Sonic, although your days of stardom are over, you will always be a star in our hearts."

Looks of fear covered every Veteran's face as the Newcomers applause fell deaf to their ears.

"…_Your days of stardom are over…"_

It suddenly made since why Lucas and Ness left. Their games hadn't been making any profit. Sonic's games were going downhill fast.

It was a cruel reminder that the true reason for the whole competition was merely for profit.

And the party ended with that boy's speech. Everybody walked out to the front doors of the huge mansion to give the final goodbye and see Sonic off. Unlike Ness and Lucas, Sonic didn't need a form of transportation. All he needed was his feet, a map, and the seven Chaos Emeralds that helped him become Super Sonic.

After bragging that that was all he needed because he, "was the fastest thing alive!!" and then immediately retorted against, he smirked at everyone. With a fist pound from Mario, and a noogie from Snake, Sonic closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly the seven emeralds floated out and circled Sonic. Sonic raised his arms and, as if on cue, the emeralds flew back to Sonic. A bright, golden flash erupted from the hedgehog, and once everyone recovered from the sudden light, they saw Super Sonic in his full glory. He grinned widely as he flew into the air. And with a resounding, "I'm outta here!!" Super Sonic flew into the distance, disappearing from view a second later.

And with his disappearance, came the arrival of the apprehension amongst the Veterans.

Sonic the Hedgehog, a legend, had been cut.

How soon would they leave?

.-:_____:-.

Things never stay quiet in the competition.

It was only two weeks after the blue hedgehog left the manor when tragedy struck.

It was the passing of two titans.

Master Hand and Crazy Hand were gone.

Nobody knew how or why. Nobody was even there when it had happened.

It had just a normal afternoon when a scream and a yell resounded. It was a thundering cry of pain that shook every Smasher to their core. The Veterans immediately recognized that pained cry and rushed as quickly as they could to the giant hands' office.

And just as every Veteran assembled in front of the fallen hands, Master Hand and Crazy Hand disappeared in a swirling cloud of sparkling blue dust.

After that, the whole mansion was sent into a stage of shock.

Barely anybody had any strength, physically and mentally, to throw together a funeral. Yet, it got done, thanks to the help of the Veterans and a select few Newcomers. But nobody paid any attention to the service as they slurred out words of respect for them.

And none to soon, they found a replacement host and manager for the whole competition.

All the Smashers watched in dull surprise as a normal man came into the usual meeting room. He wore a mere suit and glasses. Everybody could tell that this man here had no powers, abnormal strengths, or anything at all that could overpower them physically. How could he manage the Smashers and the competition with no power over them?

All of those thoughts were dismissed the moment he raised his head, opened his mouth and in a clear and powerful voice said to all,

"I am the man who shall take position as this event's manager and host."

They believed he could do the job.

But with new management came changes.

Big changes.

Only weeks after he took office, that man arranged the largest amount of cuts competitors of the tournament has ever seen.

Peach and Bowser,

Diddy Kong and Wario,

Zelda and Sheik,

Ganondorf and Toon Link,

Pit,

R.O.B.,

Nana and Popo,

Meta Knight and King DeDeDe,

Olimar,

Falco and Wolf,

The Pokemon Trainer and Lucario,

Marth and Ike,

Mr. Game & Watch and Snake

Were all chosen to leave the Super Smash Bros. competition.

And it caused an uproar.

None of the Smashers stood for it. They cried out in protest, threatened the man, and anything they could to make him see reason. All that was left of the Veterans were the Smashers that had been there since the very beginning.

And that was exactly why they were being cut.

The remaining Veterans still made as much money as the Newcomers did. The chosen cut Smashers barely made the money needed to continue on and make a benefit. They were merely unnecessary, access weight that needed to be thrown away…

So they were taking out the trash.

Again, the Veterans, both cut and remaining, were set in shock. The Newcomers meekly walked up to some of them and apologized for their misfortune. Nearly all of them had told them,

"At least your stardom was nice while it lasted, right?"

That was the last sentence all of the cut Smashers ever heard in the mansion. All of them left the manor and the competition only hours after the announcement.

.-:_____:-.

It took three months for the Veterans to fully recover from the devastation of losing nearly everyone.

It had been three months of nonstop battling, pain and frustration. They managed to isolate themselves from the rest of the Smashers, unless it was for a tournament battle. During those three months, however, their bond had strengthened so powerful, not even the powers of Master Hand and Crazy Hand combined could sever it.

But three months was an awful lot of time to pass by.

Three months was enough for change to happen again.

The Smashers all gathered in the Meeting Room as the current manager called the gathering. Everyone expected it to be another talk about plans to renovate the mansion, or how to make the competition livelier, or topics along those lines, seeing as how _all_ the previous meetings had been like that.

It had not been like that even in the slightest.

The moment that man walked in the room, he looked at one particular character. The manager smiled at him, causing the boy's large green eyes to widen in surprise. In his powerful voice, he announced,

"Dear Smashers, I have an announcement to make. As of today, a Smasher you very well know has been named the new Official Nintendo Mascot."

Surprise displayed on the boy's round face as he pointed to himself. "M-me?"

The manager's smile showed his pride for the short boy as he nodded.

Immediately, the Newcomers reached out and congratulated him. The new mascot's slim frame racked in his embarrassment and happiness from all the attention he received.

Only the Veterans stayed where they were. Each one stared at the mass of Newcomers with dumbfounded and horrified expressions.

The most horrified expression belonged to none other than Mario, the now former Official Nintendo Mascot.

The manager slowly turned to the Veterans as a small smirk crossed his features. His small eyes bore into Mario's large blue eyes and his smirk twisted deviously.

"You know what that means, right?"

Mario paled. Immediately, the Veterans stepped in to defend their friend.

Their defending statements and questions overlapped one another. "How can that happen? What do mean new Official Nintendo Mascot? Nobody even discussed this with Mario! He's always been number one!" And so on.

But the manager silenced them with a wave of his hand. He glared at them all as his clear voice spoke out,

"Clearly, Mario is no longer on top."

Any remaining protests died in the Veterans' throats as helpless expressions fluttered onto their faces.

The manager continued. "As of last month, Mario's games were knocked off of first place. But he didn't drop to second place. He dropped down to _tenth_. Our new mascot is making quite a bit of money, so what do you do? You pull and cut strings to make even more money. By giving him the title of Official Nintendo Mascot, you make even more money. We just needed to drop the current mascot, and the one that doesn't make as much money. And that also means that you don't have a spot here in the Super Smash Bros. competition."

A cold grin appeared on his face. "It seems as if you've forgotten the real reason of this competition."

All the Veterans stared at the manager, a tense and shocked silence filling the space between them. The manager raised his head, his grin growing as each second passed.

"We have no need for the old. It is all about the new now! The new makes the money! Who cares if the old had been bringing _fun _for decades now? What does it matter if they had been the moneymakers in their time? It is all about what's new! It's all about what makes the most money!"

No response came from the Veterans. The manager turned away while pushing up his glasses. He stared at them from over his shoulder, and then slowly walked towards the group of celebrating Smashers.

"…The bus to take the Mario crew back to the Mushroom Kingdom is to arrive shortly. Go and pack your bags."

He joined the mass of Smashers, thus leaving group of stunned Veterans.

Slowly, Mario stood. The part time plumber looked at his brother, Luigi, and upon meeting eye contact, they nodded. Luigi rose to his feet and walked out of the meeting room with his brother. It didn't take long to gather their belongings. All of it had been packed recently as a result to the feeling that this day would happen.

The moment they left their room, they were met with the faces of their Veteran friends. All smiled kindly, and nodded at them. Mario and Luigi smiled as well and started down to the front doors.

The Veterans walked together with them.

They walked down the hall to the front doors, side by side, staring straight ahead, never looking back.

Soon enough, they reached the front doors. The Veterans walked out together and were met with the sight of their green dinosaur friend, Yoshi. Yoshi, who had skipped the meeting simply because he felt like it, looked up at the other ten Veterans with confusion. He gave a questioning cry and looked at Mario and Luigi. The moment Luigi looked down and Mario's gaze saddened, he understood what was going.

Yoshi's face saddened, but quickly turned solemn. He marched up to Mario and Luigi and took his place right in between the two.

They group of Veterans looked out at the horizon, silently waiting for the bus that would take the Mario crew away. And just as the manager said, the bus arrived quickly.

Luigi sighed quietly as Mario took the lead, then Yoshi ran out in front of them. The three of them stopped in front of the bus and looked up at it wistfully, then took a step towards the bus doors.

"Hey!"

Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi stopped and slowly turned around, their eyes full of confusion. They were met with the smiling faces of the Veterans.

Suddenly, Donkey Kong stood on his two feet. He buffed out his chest and pounded his fists on it.

After Donkey Kong stopped, Link unsheathed his sword. He held it at his chest with both hands, and then thrust in the air with his left.

Then, Samus placed a hand on her hip and raised her blaster up, her suit letting out a noise as she nodded at them.

Captain Falcon stood completely straight and with a smirk, he placed a hand on his hip and saluted them.

Kirby stood on his tiptoes and arched his body out, waving madly with his two stubby arms.

Fox smirked as he placed a hand on his hip and gave a thumbs up and lowly let out, "Yeah!"

Pikachu stood on his hind legs and waved at them, shouting out, "Pika pika!!" while doing so.

Jigglypuff smiled and twirled around once before puffing up and let out a merry, "Jigglypuff!"

Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi stared at the other Veterans, surprise evident on their faces. Slowly, a smile crept on Mario's face and he looked away. Yoshi looked at Mario curiously. Any curiosity disappeared as he saw the warm smile on the part time plumber was trying to hide.

Yoshi looked back at the Veterans and lightly hopped in the air. He spun around and when he landed on the ground, he threw up a peace sign and cried out, "Yoshi!!"

Luigi smiled widely as he caught on. He tipped his hat down over his eyes and formed a pistol shape with hands his index fingers and his thumbs. He rotated his wrists and pointed to the left, and then pointed to the right. Lastly, he rotated his wrists and pointed right at the Veterans and winked at them.

Mario's smile widened. He slowly took the brim of his red hat and turned towards the Veterans. He tipped his hat down at them and then removed it from his head. He swung his arm that held his hat back and turned his body away from them as he placed a hand on his hip. Mario gave them a watery, yet a completely warm heartfelt smile that the Veterans felt compelled to return.

Mario put his hat back on, and with a couple of twists and turned to fasten it, he gave one last look at the Veterans and entered the bus with Luigi and Yoshi on his heels.

The remaining eight Smashers watched the bus drive away with smiles still lingering on their faces. The moment the bus disappeared, however, their faces became solemn. Immediately, they turned at each other. Mutual determination spread through them all as they nodded at each at other. All of them turned around and dashed down the halls, straight to their rooms. They each picked up a bag with all of their possessions.

Donkey Kong rushed out of the mansion and down a path that would take him to his destination.

Link ran out of the large mansion and straight to a large, yet old looking shack. He pushed the doors open and walked inside. He was immediately met with the scents of old hay and wood and the sight of an assortment of horses. He walked down the small path, past stalls and horses, until he came upon the horse he was looking for. He gave a small smile as his horse recognized him and trotted as close as she could to him from behind the stable. Link stroked her muzzle tenderly and murmured, "Let's go back home to Hyrule, Epona…" In a flash, Link strapped on the saddle and hopped on Epona. With a loud cry and a slap from Link, Epona dashed out of the shack and away from the property of Super Smash Bros mansion.

Samus, Captain Falcon, Kirby, and Fox rushed down a flight of stairs and stopped in front of a metallic door. Samus flung it open and dashed inside, vaguely aware of the footsteps clanging against the metal floor of the mansion's hangar for spaceships and other vehicles that other Smashers had brought from their home. The four Veterans dashed around the large metal room, looking for their method of transportation.

Kirby let out a relieved cry as he spotted his beloved Warpstar.

Captain Falcon smirked as his Blue Falcon came within eyesight and launched himself into the air and into his ship.

Fox hopped inside his Arwing, placed his hands on the controls, and smiled as the familiar rush of comfort behind the wheel returned.

Samus slowly stepped into her Gunship and felt a smirk grace her lips as she recognized the interior.

"Welcome back, Lady." Samus's smirk widened.

"It's good to be back, Adam."

Samus sat in the seat of her ship and placed her hand on a scanner. The gunship let out a rumble and a sign of its activation.

Samus nodded, "Alright, Adam. Set the coordinates for the Galactic Federation Base." After a moment of silence, Adam responded, "All set. What's the occasion? You wouldn't be going there out of your free will…"

Samus stared out in front of her and watched the large doors leading out of the mansion slowly open to let her ship out. " I just need to get out of this place…"

"Ah, I see. That day has come, huh?"

Samus smiled. "Yeah."

"You don't sound sad at all."

Samus didn't respond as she stared at the now open doors. She glanced to her left and watched as the Blue Falcon drove right next to her. She watched as Captain Falcon looked her way and grinned at her. He gave her a thumbs up, and then looked forward. The Blue Falcon sped past her ship and out of the hangar.

Samus watched his ship disappear when something caught her attention to the right of her. She turned and saw the Arwing slowly stop next to her. Fox looked at her and smirked widely at her. He looked forward, and in the next second, sped into the air and out of the hangar.

And shortly afterward, the Warpstar flew over Samus's ship. Samus didn't miss Kirby standing on his transportation, waving at her frantically with a huge smile on his face. She certainly didn't miss his loud, high pitched, "Baiiiiiiiiiii!!!" as he flew farther away.

Samus smiled warmly. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I am a little saddened that I'm leaving."

Her ship rose from the ground. "Then why don't you sound it?" Though Adam had said it as a normal question, his confusion was blatant.

Samus's smile grew. "That's something for only me to know."

There was a grunt. Samus smirked. "Any objections, Mister?"

Samus could feel Adam's smirk through his response. "None whatsoever, Lady."

Samus's gunship flew out of the large hangar, set far away from the Super Smash Bros. world.

That day went down as the day Nintendo's long time All-Stars disappeared from the world without a trace.

.-:_____:-.

They decided that they would leave together.

During those three months of isolation, the Veterans decided that it would only take one cut Veteran to decide when the day they would leave from the world's view.

It was decided that they would leave together, just as they came to the tournament together, and just as they made what Nintendo was known for together.

They wouldn't look back nor would they regret their decision. Each of the Veterans knew why.

It came down to two reasons. They were in it together and they would be out of it together. They had a strong bond, and there would be no way that the "true" reasons behind the Super Smash Bros. competition would ever break that bond.

And they knew that even if the left because that their stardom was over they figured one thing. As to quote from Sonic's farewell speech,

"…_Although your days of stardom are over, you will always be a star in our hearts."_

That was true. Though it was over for them, they knew they left behind a legacy. Generations of games had been left behind in their wake. They still had their fans to love and enjoy them.

They were to be forever in the hearts of fans everywhere.

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**I honestly do not know where this came from. The plot was stuck in my head so I wanted to try and write it out. **

**Yet...**

**I don't think I portrayed it how I wanted to. I threw in alot of symbolisms and such but I don't think I'm that good of a writer yet to produce this story how I think it should have been. I guess when I think I'm ready for it, I'll re-write it. but for the mean time it'll stay here for those who enjoyed it.**

**Have fun guessing what symbols I put in there are! ^^ As always review!**


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